The Unfortunate Injury Of Sondre Guttormsen

New Balance Nationals Indoor won't have the two highest fliers in the pole vault this weekend.

First, Lafayette (LA) High's Mondo Duplantis declared from the 2018 World Indoor Championships this past weekend in Birmingham, United Kingdom, that it was highly unlikely that he would compete in the event where he took a national title last year -- and earned an unofficial world junior record that later couldn't be ratified.

The dual-national, who hails from Norway but was born in Davis, California, became just the second athlete to ever break 18 feet in the pole vault indoors this January at the National Pole Vault Summit.

Guttormsen had been training for his upcoming outdoor season, and had been entered at New Balance Nationals Indoor to compete for a national title this weekend in New York -- his first such trip to the Big Apple.

But on Saturday, while competing at the Sacramento State High School Classic (MileSplit was documenting his weekend for an upcoming feature), Guttormsen came down off the mat after his second attempt at his first height and found a lift jutted out from underneath the pit (see above). His foot caught hold of the bracket and turned drastically, ending his day.

While Guttormsen left the competition that day walking on two feet -- elevation, ice, and elastic held the ankle together -- the ensuing day brought more news. After an X-ray, Guttormsen learned that his ankle wasn't broken, but that their could be more damage to his foot.

It ended his hopes for an indoor national title and sidelined him, at least, for the immediate future this outdoor campaign.

Guttormsen is headed to UCLA next fall, so he will remain in the States. But his aspirations are taking a back seat for now, and New Balance Nationals Indoor will have just a little less luster this weekend in New York.

Still, with plane tickets in hand and hotels reserved, Guttormsen will travel to New York with his family, hoping the motivation of his injury will lift him to new heights once he returns this spring.